Business Research Design Assessment

Essay by RCruz1972University, Bachelor'sA+, March 2004

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The Board of Directors of Unitrin has just reviewed the study done by the research team. This study entitled "Business Decision" is annexed as Appendix 1. The Board did its own evaluation of the study, and subsequently met with the CEO and passed the study on to him for his own evaluation. The expectation was that after his evaluation he would develop a plan of action and/or strategic plan to implement the changes recommended by the study.

In order to adequately evaluate the study, the CEO decided to apply the generally accepted standards of testing a study to determine its effectiveness. These considerations were kept in mind in this evaluation. The considerations were:

(a) The appropriateness of the research design;

(b) The adequacy of the sample design; and

(c) The validity and reliability of the survey instrument.

It is important to note that, "the primary purpose of research design is to guide

researchers in their quest to solve the problems under study" (Davis, 2003).

The problem previously identified was articulated in the questions:

(1) Whether the structure and composition of this Board of Directors of a non-profit organization affect its ability to gain and maintain funding; and

(2) Whether there is a connection between Board structure and organizational goals.

Based on the content of these questions which defined the problem and the findings presented to the Board for evaluation, there are a number of key questions which could be asked by the CEO as part of his evaluation of the research.

Firstly, one must ask the question regarding the design process. The specific questions are best articulated by Davis et al (2003),

. . . what concepts will be studied, how these concepts will be measured, what approach will be used to study the problem, who will be studied, how...